SUPERSTITION IN THE SOUDAN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6544, 22 July 1899, Page 2

SUPERSTITION IN THE SOUDAN.

! : '■' (By KARL BERGHOFP;) ! -■ \ ... _, : ... : (Poll Kail GaiHifi). „"' , : ' .,'.' '. The belief in witchcraft is already very common in -..Lower Egypt. The more one proceeds towards the South, the darker is the skin of the natives on the banks of the holy Nile, and in the -same degree their superstition takes a more intense colouring. Tho northern belief in ghosts disappears almost entirely in the realistic mind.of the south. While the .limited power of ths sorcerer in the Delta does not extend beyond the "evil-eye" (el-am), love-charms, etc , the Soudan does not content itself with such modest results. Nay, to the utmost fright and terror of the Nubian and negro, both gifted with a fantastic imagination, the sorcerer transforms himself here at night-time into the most savage animal, and under this disguise devours his innocent victim. • In the Arabic speaking Soudan, the most common spotted hyena is called " maraful." This animal plays an important part in African superstition by its nightly habits of living, its appearance and horrible voice", which changes from a deep howl into sounds reminding one of the laughter of a maniac. The popular belief in Sennar and the Eastern Soudan is that the hyena is not an animal, but an evildoer changed by black witchcraft into animal form. Never has the hyena been seen in sunshine, because the latter is believed to break the spell of witchcraft; but as soon as the light ot heaven has disappeared in the west, • the hoarse cries of these monsters gathering to their nightly feasts resound from every side. ■ ■ ' , Aged women with red eyes and hoarse voices, who have missed their vocation m life are generally believed to be witches, who take the form of these horrible beasts by manipulating the teeth of a hyena, or strange roots, or by other forms of sorcery. The purpose of this transformation is supposed to be a secret desire for human flesh and thirst for vengeance. Can one imagine a more horrible revenge than the tearing of the enemy's body out of its grave and devouring it! If suchi a hyena is killed, it dies as an animal. If it is only wounded, and it succeeds in reaching its hiding-place, where the transformation from man to beast has taken place (generally an ant-hill), it will retake its human shape. Tlie wound, however, will remain, and, by following the traces of blood, the sorcerer can be hunted down. The superstitious natives are generally afraid of shooting a hyena, lest they should commit a murder.

In the districts of Sennar, .witchcraft and sorcery seem to be well spread and developed. Even, the waters of the Blue Nile are made the scene of evil deeds, where the villain is described as a crocodile, and attacks mankind. The

SORCERERS TRANSFORMED INTO CROCODII/ES

have a chieftain called " Bunnie," who once a year is visible on a small sandy island opposite Sennar. It is an ofd male crocodile of more than five metres in length.. .These supernatural crocodiles cannot bfe' distinguished externally from the real amphibia, whose form they .nave taken as disguise. It is, however, believed that the crocodiles which, at sunrise, raise themselves out of the water and face the morning sun are transformed human, beings. Some sorcerers are said to kill tfierr victims by eating away their intestines in some inexplicable manner, and so to cause their slow but certain death. As an example, an Arabian military doctor, told me the following:—ln the year 1878, an old woman in Pazogl had been accused of causing the death of a soldier in this manner, and she was publicly executed. This doctor himself had made the post-mortem examination of of the soldier's body, and had found the intestines eaten away and torn. In Quallabat, at the frontier of Habesh, some of the. Takarri are said to have brought from their former home in the Darfur knowledge of secret science, and to have developed the art of sorcery to such a degree that they can transform themselves not only into hyenas and crocodiles, but also into lions. How deeply superstition is rooted in all classes of the Soudanese population is shown by th© fact that, under the Governor Musa Pasha, at the Hokimdarieh of Khartoum, there was, in 1863, a round earthenware vessel, still in existence, filled with mysterious roots, to which wore led all persons denounced for sorcery. Were they innocent, they could approach the jug with a firm step. If, however, they were in league with an evil power they would trembls at the aspect of the urn, hesitate in their movements, and willingly confess their guilt without having been submitted to a crossexamination.

Tuinmg to the neighbouring Christian Abyssinia (Amhara), we find that witchcraft and sorcery are in a similar way at their

NEFARIOUS WORK. Here it is the "Buddha" who addresses his intended victim in full day-light in the street or in the market under some pretext and so bewitches him that he falls into a fever, and, attracted by an irresistible power, goes to find his sorcerer in the night, who in his house or some quiet spot kills him to satisfy his cannibal desire for human flesh. This spell, however, can be broken if in good time some roots or leaves of special medical power are inserted into the nostrils of the victim, and certain chapters of the Scripture are read to him.

In the year 1879, by order of King John, the property of several proven sorcerers wns confiscated, and they were marked on die forehead with red-hot irons to prevent them from doing further harm. The Nubians, Abyssinians, and the negro tribes of the White Nile have a firm belief in the -power of the "evil eye." It is supposed to do .harm to cattle and horses and. so to bewitch guns that they constantly miss their aim. The eye of envious people is generally said to be gifted with this mysterious power, and persons 'having a beautiful child, a fine horse or camel, will expose them as little as possible to the gaze of strangers. They adorn them with all kinds of amulets to guard them against evil influence. Such charms are a small bright silver plate, a pierced silver coin, tusks of the wild boar, pieces of hard roots, or, as the most powerful of all, a small leather bag containing a piece of paper on which a quotation from the sacred writings is

copied. To preserve his harvest of "du<--rah " against the malicious influence of the evil eye, the native of Toka plants in his field a pole upon which the bleached skull of an ox is placed. FORTUNE-TELLING AND DIVINATION. are everywhere at home in Africa ; they are carried on in the Eastern Soudan by a manipulation of sand (dharb-er-ramle). This is the art of reading the secrets of the future and predicting distant events from signs and impressions made with the fingers at haphazard on loose sand. The Baggava Arabs and the black Fur are most renowned for their skill and adroitness in this secret art. In Kordofan and Darf ur nobody will start on a long journey or undertake any matter of importance without first consulting the local sand-oracle upon the result of his enterprise. An Arab friend of mine, who had travelled long in the Darfur, told me the following interesting incident referring to the art of reading in the sand. It had come to the ears of the Turkish Governor of a province that an old man in the neighbourhood was astonishing everybody by the exactness of his divinations. The Governor ordered this man to be brought before him, as he wished to submit him to a test. As soon as his messengers had gone, he had two hares placed by the side of him under a "tabage,■": (a large basket-like cover made :sf differently ■ coloured reeds and used for covering -• food)'. ; The messengers, however, did not find the old man at home. His -nephew,. who,- but;a boyj-was -already well known for his cleverness m the mysterious; craft, offered-to go-tothe.-Governor in his uncle's .place, and returned with the messengers MFtie Governor looked J atf,hiin- with disbelievin'g-eyes anS said, ; •" My^on^if 'you can read secrets in the saad^tell me-'what is under this tabaga." The youth shook up the sand which he had brought with him

in-a'corner of his gown. '"'He'sat- himself on the ground,' made^ his Manipulations arid signs, and replied, after short meditation, '•■There, under the tabaga, is 1 wool like; the wool of newly born camels, there are also ears like : those. /of . donkeys ; iif^my uncle wefe ; . here, he .would say that ; 'there are hares underneath , that coyer." .;,, -„

The Governor' was .greatly, surprised at the r .result 'of his. test-case,' and' gave ;the clever boy a handsome; present; ,-. r„■ ; : .